Panchkula residents give memo over dumping site

Panchkula, June 11

Opposing the shifting of the dumping site to Jhuriwala from Sector 23, residents of trans-Ghaggar sectors today submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh and Mayor Kulbhushan Goyal.

Citing environmental concern, violation of NGT and court orders and threat to flora and fauna, the residents have given the administration a week’s time to look into their demands or face a “massive protest” on June 19. Terming the new dumping site “illegal”, various residents welfare associations (RWAs) of the trans-Ghaggar area said they “have been opposing setting up of the proposed solid waste management plant at Jhuriwala site for the past over 10 years” with a request to shift it.

“Due to its proximity to the residential area, the dumping ground in Sector 23 has already polluted air and water. The recent decision of the Panchkula MC to dump solid waste of the city at the Jhuriwala site will create another dumping ground in our residential area, resulting in air and underground water pollution,” they said.

Even Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker and local MLA Gian Chand Gupta, during his first term as MLA from Panchkula, had demanded shifting of the Sector 23 dumping ground to a place away from human habitation, but not Jhuriwala. However, talking to Chandigarh Tribune, Gupta said he never opposed the move. — TNS